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December 18, 2012

Mobile Apps For Kids: Privacy Problems Persist

In this age of technology, parents have more options than
ever before to enrich, distract, or even at times, bribe their children with
bright and colorful apps on their mobile devices. As of September 2012, there were over 700,000
apps available in both the Apple App store and Google Play store. The problem is that there remain some
significant privacy concerns associated with these apps. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has just
released a new staff
report that examines the privacy disclosures and practices of apps geared
toward children. The report focuses on
the results of a second FTC survey related to mobile apps for kids, and
concludes that not much has changed since the first survey
conducted in 2011, the results of which were documented in a staff report
released in February 2012, “Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are
Disappointing”.

The FTC acknowledges that app makers probably have the best
of intentions when it comes to protecting the kids’ privacy. However, it appears there has been little
progress with regard to informing adults what data is being collected, how it’s
being shared, and who will have access to it.
The report also found that many apps include interactive features that
link to social media and provide information to ad networks or other third
parties without giving notice to the adults.

FTC staff examined hundreds of apps aimed at kids and looked
at disclosures and links on each page in the app store, on the app developer’s
site, and within the app itself. Going
further in this second survey, staff not only examined the apps disclosures,
they downloaded the apps themselves and tested them to see if the disclosures
were actually put into practice.
According to the report, “most apps failed to provide any information about the data
collected, let alone the type of data collected, the purpose of the collection,
and who would obtain access to the data.”
Only about 20% of the apps reviewed by FTC staff disclosed any
information about privacy practices.

The FTC report strongly encourages mobile app developers and
other related third parties to make better efforts to ensure that parents have
the information they need to make educated decisions about the apps before they
download them for their kids. In
particular, the report urges the industry to “expeditiously” take the steps
recommended in the February 2012 Report, including:

incorporating privacy protections into
the actual design of mobile apps for kids;

offering parents
easy-to-understand choices about data collection and sharing through kids’
apps; and

providing greater transparency about how data is collected, used,
and shared through these apps.

App developers should be aware that the FTC is launching
non-public investigations to determine if any of the companies in this mobile
app sphere are violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act or the
FTC Act, and that a failure to “expeditiously” heed the recommendations in the
February 2012 Report could give rise to potential claims of deceptive practices
actionable under the FTC Act.